


Luke Gets Fired

by Bae_Wyatt



Series: WWE High [3]
Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Gen, cracker barrel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 15:02:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10027088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bae_Wyatt/pseuds/Bae_Wyatt
Summary: Luke Gets Fired. You know what that means.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank the people who encouraged me to finish this. They know who they are. If Naomi is reading, I have several people, myself included, lined up and ready to donate their knees so you don't have to wait for yours to recover. If The New Day is reading, can y'all get me tickets for a show in the tri-state area? Thanks.

He had only been trying to help.

Randy had been slacking at serving tables _again._ Like always he was favoring slinking into back corners of the restaurant to observe the rest of the family, arms folded as if the authority he had at the local high school somehow applied here. Not helping with set up, not checking on customers, and now Luke was stuck pulling both their weights when he was assigned to manage the store front. Braun could handle it on his own, yes, but he a quiet man, better fit for his typical position as a bus boy than carrying conversation up front. But _Randy_ had apparently decided he didn’t have to work to earn his share. Didn’t even feel the need to show up for their closing prayer, not once!

“Randy has a high school degree”, Bray would say, so of course he gets a free pass.

Luke had tried to warn Bray that Randy was bad news; service had slowed customers were leaving less satisfied, but one good review a month ago had only assured Bray that hiring Randy into the family was working in their favor. But Bray was barely ever their to witness Randy slacking off, just like he was now, and refused to hear a word of Luke’s protest, no matter how many poor reviews he had gotten.

And now, with Randy watching smugly as Luke attempted to cover both of their shifts at once, Luke was ready to snap. He wasn’t just ignoring his job, he was reveling in watching Luke struggle to keep up, eyes flickering predatorily at him.

Something was off about this evening, and Luke was seething by the time Bray had pulled him to the side for a “talk”.

“Can this wait? I’ve got the whole restaurant to serve right now.” He said impatiently.

Bray gave him a tired look, able to tell the implications of Luke’s complaint. “Stop bringing Randy down Luke, he doesn’t- well, he is related to what I have to tell you, but there’s no reason to drag him-“

“There’s every reason to drag him into this!” Luke shouted. “He does nothing for us Bray. He –“

“Luke.” Bray said firmly. “Randy has been more than helpful to this family. Without his high school diploma we’d have no one homeschooling us, and you know the public don’t teach right. We can’t go back to the machine.”

Luke’s nails dug deep into his palms, all he could do not to get angrier. It wasn’t working.

“Dammit Bray, listen!” Luke bellowed. “He won’t help Rowan in the back, he won’t clean up, he refuses to ever work the register, dammit, it’s Braun’s day off and he’s stuck up front because Randy just wants stands there, flexing in that stupid pose of his!” Luke was shaking in anger, now, so much so that a few crumbs from a previous meal had fallen out of his beard.

“And what’s wrong with Randy wanting to express himself?” Bray demanded. “It’s his way of showing the world how he really is. Everyone expresses themselves in different, unique ways Luke, even me.” With that, Bray bent over backwards into his traditional spider pose, clearly enjoying his own flexibility more then the fight with Luke, who let out an exasperated whine of frustration.

“He’s mocking us all, Bray look at him.” Luke gestured wildly at Randy, who, of course, was flexing in a dark corner of the cracker barrel. “He doesn't give a damn about you or me or the restaurant. Hell, he don't give a damn about Abigail, Bray!“

Those words finally got his boss, his leader, his friend, to pay attention, but not in the way Luke had wanted. Bray twisted around quickly, still in spider position, looking up at Luke from the ground angrily.

“You’d dare accuse one of our own of straying from the path?” he asked, calmer than Braun in the face of the monthly mob of atheists that demanded they all cease control of the traditionally unaffiliated restaurant. Yes, that tended to happen, and no, they were never intimidated.

“Maybe Randy was right after all…” Bray sad quietly.

“Right about what?”

“You, Luke. Randy has given his 110% to the business, and he has his other job to worry about on top of homeschooling us. The fact that he’s been pulling more weight than you makes it clear that you’ve lost faith in the restaurant” Bray stares Luke down, eyes accusing him. “You’ve lost faith in me.”

“I haven’t-“ Luke gasps. “You can’t do this, he’s only been working here for three months! I believe in the Barrel, Bray, I’ve never lost sight of our mission. You’re the one who doesn’t know what’s going on anymore. Randy’s blindsiding you! He-“

Bray grabs Luke, pulling him close to the floor. Their beards touched, wiry teenage fuzz entangling together.

“You’re fired. Now get. Out. Don’t make me ask you again Luke.”

Bray loosens his grip, and Luke jerks out of his embrace. As Bray scuttled off to join Randy in posing dramatically to express themselves, Luke stormed off to the kitchen to collect his things. He shoved his way passed Erick, who was busily preparing bread bowls for the dinner rush. Luke didn’t have to look to know he was coming up behind to confront him, he just made his way to the employee closet, looking for something he could carry the few possession he had stored there with. Why didn’t he leave a bag here? Oh, right. He lived in the basement, just like the others – hadn’t had need for one since he since moving into the Cracker Barrel, and now he was out of work, out of a home.

Bray said it would help them all save money, but Bray never had to worry about getting fired one day.

Luke decided to just use some spare doggy bags, collecting clothing that was probably his. Everyone’s things had gotten mixed together years ago and no one ever bothered to sort through them. He bagged the best beard care kit he could find. It was probably Bray’s. Fuck Bray.

The heavy breath of air heating Luke’s neck would have made a lesser man piss with fear, but he was far past actually being intimidated by Erick’s ability to quietly appear right behind people.

“Get back to work Rowan, before your next.”

“You were fired?”

“Randy is a sneaky snake and a snakey sneak!” Luke screamed, sure that the whole restaurant could hear, and uncaring that they had. “Ever since he got adopted the whole family has been falling apart! Bray’s always talking about how great he is and how he’s the best employee he’s ever had, but I’ve been here since the before we even started all this. He never pays attention to me anymore, you’re always alone in the back, and Braun keeps taking the day off to fight that weird uber driver that plays ska in his car every day.”

Luke let out a frustrated wail, which Erick helps him silence by sliding a sheep mask over his face. He slipped a paper bag into Luke’s hand as he road out his tantrum, which he could smell contained food to go. Erick was truly his only friend in this.

Right, he needed more friends now if he was going to get Randy out of his house he was going to need extra muscle.

“What are you going to do now?” Rowan asked after he had calmed down.

“The only thing I can do,” Luke said, pausing for a dramatic effect – it was the Wyatt way of speaking. He held that pause for forty-seven seconds before finishing.

“Run.”

 

 

Running may not have been the best idea.

After yelling one more time at Bray that he was “not even my real dad!” Luke had stormed off into the evening, plastic bags in hand. He didn’t know where he was going, and initially didn't care, but within an hour he was remembering that he technically had no place to sleep. If only Rowan had a place he could stay. They had both been so foolish, trusting that Bray would always let them call the Cracker Barrel their home.

Luke sighs, realizing the doggy bags wont be able to hold everything of his in the closet. He’d have to make a second trip another day. And swipe more of Bray’s things. If he could pin it on Randy somehow, he could get his home – his family – back.

A car honked its horn somewhere on the otherwise appropriately quiet street, frustrating Luke. Couldn’t the driver tell he was focused on his internal anguish, of found family now lost? It honked again. Luke looked up to challenge the driver, but found himself staring dumbly at the most unlikely face to approach him.

It was John Cena, captain of the local football team, star senior, not a drop out turned mangy drifter like Luke was. His car a bright blue, obnoxious like his upbeat personality. On the hood was a beautiful engraving of Chyna, a customization only the likes of Cena could afford. His front plate matched it perfectly, reading “Hall of Fame” in shinning letters. It was one of the most beautiful sights Luke had ever seen.

“Never give up.” Cena said memefully. “You want to fight Orton, right? I know all about getting under his skin.” The sound of unlocking doors signaled Luke to enter the car. He was an unlikely ally, Cena, but Luke knew that if anyone could help him get the Barrel back, it would be him.

He joined John in the front, ready for revenge.

**Author's Note:**

> The best part of uploading this when I did is that the Randy's betrayal literally just went down.


End file.
